indian peas and cheese

Also known as Matar Paneer, this is one of my favourite Indian dishes. Indian food is one of my favourite cuisines to cook... mostly because it's my favourite to eat! 

I found this recipe on hebbarskitchen.com and thank the heavens I did. It's amazing. Indian dishes tend to be elaborate in terms of the amount of spices they use, but not super difficult to cook. As long as your pantry is stocked with the right spices and you have lots of onions/garlic/ginger on hand you can whip up a lot of delicious Indian dishes.

If you're looking to step outside of your comfort zone (or just love Indian food!) this is a nice recipe to start with. Make sure you read through and collect the spices that you need before starting. Your taste buds will thank you. The recipe is naturally gluten free and vegetarian, but the paneer cheese (which you can find in the regular cheese section of Superstore) is not vegan. Paneer is a traditional Indian cheese that is commonly used for it's high protein. You could try substituting tofu or cauliflower if you are a strict vegan.

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Ingredients
For onion-tomato puree:

• 2 tsp oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 inch ginger
• 2 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 4 cashews

Other ingredients:

• 1 - 2 tbsp grapeseed oil
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1­ bay leaf
• ¾ tsp chilli powder
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• salt to taste
• ¾ tsp coriander powder
• ¼ tsp cumin powder
• ½ - 1 tsp cane sugar
• ½ tsp garam masala powder
• 1 cup water, add to adjust consistency
• 2 tbsp plain greek yogurt, fresh
• ½ cup peas, fresh or frozen
• 1 block paneer cut in to 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 tsp dry fenugreek leaves, crushed
• few coriander leaves, chopped​

Instructions
Onion-tomato paste recipe:

1. In a large pan add oil and chopped onions, ginger and garlic.
2. Saute on medium flame until onions turns slightly golden brown.
3. Further add chopped tomatoes and saute until they turn soft.
4. Finally, add few cashews and blend to smooth paste using a blender (if you don't have a high powered blender you'll want to soak the cashews in hot water for 10-20 minutes).

Matar paneer recipe:

1. Fill a bowl with hot water and a sprinkle of salt and soak paneer cubes for 10 minutes, then drain.
2. In the same pan, add oil.
3. Further add cumin seed, cinnamon and bay leaf and saute until they become fragrant.
4. Add chilli powder and turmeric directly to oil for 1 minute
5. Add blended onion - tomato paste and cook, stirring often for 5 minutes
6. Add coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, sugar and salt and cook for 2 minutes
7. Add 1 cup of water add 2 tbsp of yogurt and mix well
8. Add peas and add paneer cubes.
9. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
10. Finally, add crushed methi and coriander leaves and serve over rice.